Soft oatmeal cookies, filled with buttery pecans and sweet maple syrup flavor. These Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies are easily made gluten-free and dairy-free. They make a great Fall dessert or Holiday cookie too!
Pecans may be my favorite dessert nut.
They may not be the healthiest nut. But, they’re the best dessert nut I think (if that’s a thing!). They’re impressively buttery and a little soft.
And what goes better with pecans than maple syrup? Not much else!
These soft Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies are loaded with oats and pecans. They’re sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar, and a hint of cinnamon. If you love textured cookies with a warm, cozy flavor, you’ve gotta try these!
These cookies remind me of Pecan Pie, oatmeal cookies and pancakes combined. Sounds weird, huh? But those are a few of my all time FAVORITE things. For a soft cookie, with a little crispy edges, buttery pecans and warm maple syrup flavor, it truly makes sense.
And best of all, this recipe is super easy! Read along for more information about the ingredients and for a few tips along the way.
Let’s talk about the oats first.
They’re pretty important in oatmeal cookies after all! 😉
Maybe the most important step in these cookies: Let the dough rest for 10 minutes after you add the oats in. It gives the oats a chance to soak up some of the wet ingredients. So, you get nice and thick cookies. Not cookies that spread too thin!
Other than that, this is your basic cookie dough recipe. Add your dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon). Cream your butter and brown sugar together. Add your maple syrup, vanilla and egg. Then, you’ll combine your wet and dry ingredients.
After that you’ll fold in those oats and your chopped pecans. If you want your cookies to look extra pretty, save a few pecans (about 1/4 cup) to push some pieces into the tops of the cookies prior to baking. The pecans you push into the top will stay on top and look extra fancy!
To sweeten these cookies, I recommend using BOTH brown sugar and maple syrup. I know, they’re maple pecan, so shouldn’t it be just maple syrup? Adding brown sugar into the mix brings out the maple syrup flavor. It also gives the cookies the best texture and sweetness.
I like that these cookies are more naturally sweetened (and dare I say healthier) than other cookies. If you want to keep it that way, you could use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar as well.
To make these cookies gluten-free, be sure to use an all purpose gluten-free flour blend and certified gluten-free oats.
To make these cookies dairy-free, use coconut oil or a dairy-free butter alternative.
Optional add-in ideas…
To take these cookies to the next level you can always add more to them. I would recommend 1/2-3/4 cup of chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, shredded coconut, or even chopped up bacon!
You could add maple extract too (instead of vanilla) for even more maple flavor. And don’t forget the top of the cookies! A little chocolate drizzle or powdered sugar glaze like my Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies would be great.
Or, keep them as is. These Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies are simple and super tasty. They’re great for a more healthy Fall treat, Thanksgiving cookie, or even a Christmas cookie.
If you’re craving something sweet, cozy, and filled with texture, these Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies are the cookies for you!
And if you make them, please let me know what you thought! I’m always looking forward to hearing feedback from you all.
If you need more Fall-inspired desserts, check out my gluten-free soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Pecan Pie and Snickerdoodle Cookies.
- 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter, softened (or coconut oil, or dairy-free butter alternative)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free)
- 3/4 cup pecans (chopped)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and line two pans with parchment paper (or spray with non-stick spray).
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In a small mixing bowl, add your flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and stir them together.
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In a large mixing bowl, add your butter and brown sugar and beat them together with a mixer till creamy. Add your maple syrup and vanilla and mix together again. Last, add your egg and briefly blend it into your wet ingredients.
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Add your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir till well combined. Add your oats and pecans and gently fold them into your cookie dough. Let your dough rest for 10 minutes for the oats to soak up the wet ingredients (or your cookies will spread too thin).
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Scoop with a small cookie scoop, and space them evenly apart on your pans (with about 12 cookies per pan). Gently flatten the tops of the cookies with a spatula. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or till the tops of the cookies are set and cooked through.
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Let cool, then devour!
I recommend storing these cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper in between each layer, so the cookies don’t stick together. At room temperature, these cookies will last 1-2 days. In the fridge they will last about a week.
I wanted a cookie, not something cookie-ish. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of a quarter of a cup, and added a quarter teaspoon more salt. Delicious! Still, not a lot of sweetener compared to regular cookies.
I’ve made these with all-purpose flour and they are delicious! I like that they don’t have a lot of refined sugar in them compared to other cookie recipes.
I’d like to make some GF ones since I have to watch how much wheat I eat. I have Bob Mills 1-1 baking flour, Cup4Cup, and millet flour. Would using any of these result in a cookie that is like the regular flour cookies? Is there a better one than the ones I have? Thanks!
P.S. I’d be interested in seeing more cookies/deserts that are sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Refined sugar tends to make me a little edgy/grumpy.
Hi Bec. I would definitely recommend the 1-1 baking flour! It’s a great choice. Happy baking!
I forgot to mention fine almond flour. Do you think that would work and not be too crumbly?
Are you using pure maple syrup?
Yes!
this is the 4th time making this recipe. My grandkiddos helped me the first time. Those lasted 2 days.
They always enjoy making & eating them too.
This batch is being shared wirh my Physical Therapy team tomorrow. The one has a Mom with a no gluten diet. Some changes are
1. pecan syrup
2. 1/2 bag chocolate chips
3.pecan half on top.
These are the closest to guilt free cookies , can substitute favorite ingredients, and are great!
I made these for our café in Antwerp, Belgium this morning. They taste amazing, but they were a bit crumbly. That could be the flour, though. Or that I made them a bit bigger than the recipe intends.
can’t do eggs…. what could I use?
I haven’t done that with oatmeal cookies, but I would recommend trying applesauce (or flax eggs).
I’ve used flax eggs (1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds to 3 tablespoons of hot water). I’m going make some tonight using chia eggs (same ratio, ground chia seeds).
So yummy! I added a healthy tablespoon of flax seed to give it more nutrition and fiber. It resulted in a very nice consistency – a little more chewy than soft.
I made these with coconut oil instead of butter and they came out well. They are very tasty. The consistency isn’t perfect but considering they are gluten and dairy free, the consistency is as good as I can ever expect. I rolled the dough in parchment and let it cool for about an hour in order to get the moisture into the oats. Great recipe and they make the house smell divine!!
Been attempting different gluten free cookies for over 2 years this one is one of the best so far. Added in a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for good measure to this and we really enjoyed them!
Great to hear!! Thanks Shannon.
I am on sibo diet so I had to tweak these only in the sugar area but other than that these are my absolute favorite!!!! I have been on this diet for a while and have tried many different cookies but keel coming back to this!! So that you so much. I wish people would make more recipes with maple syrup!!
Awesome! Thank you!
How did you tweak it?? I am in the same boat and want to find some strictly maple syrup sweetened desserts.
I added raisins , a bit more syrup and extra oats to thicken.